Director, Electrical Engineering

Job description

**This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Director, Electrical Engineering based in Germany.** This is a senior engineering leadership opportunity to shape the electrical infrastructure powering a global portfolio of next-generation AI facilities. As the electrical engineering design authority, you will oversee technical standards, reference designs, and project execution across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. You will define scalable power architectures capable of supporting increasingly demanding AI and high-performance computing workloads while maintaining exceptional reliability, safety, and efficiency. Working closely with multidisciplinary engineering, technology, procurement, and operations teams, you will balance technical excellence with commercial priorities and delivery schedules. You will guide projects from early concept through detailed design, construction, commissioning, and energisation. As the portfolio expands, you will develop engineering standards, mentor technical professionals, and build a dedicated electrical engineering team. This role offers the opportunity to influence the future of AI infrastructure at a global scale. ### Accountabilities: As the electrical engineering subject matter expert, you will establish technical direction, ensure consistent engineering quality, and support the successful delivery of mission-critical AI infrastructure projects. Your responsibilities will include: - Serve as the electrical engineering design authority across the global portfolio, overseeing electrical engineering activities from concept through detailed design, construction, commissioning, and energisation. - Develop, implement, and maintain electrical design standards, specifications, and basis-of-design documentation covering the full power chain, from utility interconnection to rack-level distribution. - Contribute to the reference design for AI facilities, balancing performance, reliability, energy efficiency, cost, scalability, and speed of delivery. - Own the overall power architecture, including redundancy strategies, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, energy storage, standby and on-site generation, and power distribution to the rack. - Collaborate with technology teams to align facility power infrastructure with rack, GPU, and network requirements, ensuring consistent and reliable deployment of computing capacity. - Provide specialist electrical engineering support to active projects, resolving technical challenges quickly and preventing delays throughout design, construction, commissioning, and energisation. - Monitor developments in AI hardware and electrical power architectures, including higher rack densities, changing GPU load behaviour, and higher-voltage distribution, translating emerging requirements into updated engineering standards. - Lead electrical design reviews and technical assurance, including load-flow analysis, short-circuit studies, protection coordination, and arc-flash assessments. Act as the design authority for any deviation from established electrical standards. - Coordinate with mechanical, controls, structural, and other engineering specialists to ensure integrated designs prioritise safety, reliability, cost-effectiveness, and timely delivery. - Partner with Procurement to standardise specifications for long-lead electrical equipment, including transformers, switchgear, UPS systems, generators, and busway, supporting framework agreements, prefabrication, and modular deployment. - Champion safety by design, reliability, maintainability, and energy efficiency, working with Operations to ensure facilities can be operated and maintained safely over their lifecycle. - Incorporate lessons learned from project delivery and operations into engineering standards and processes, improving the safety, quality, and efficiency of future facilities. - Oversee the electrical engineering scope delivered by external design partners, mentor engineers, and build and develop the electrical engineering team as the project pipeline grows. - Report regularly to the Senior Director of Infrastructure Engineering on technical progress, engineering risks, key decisions, and project status. **Requirements:** You will bring extensive electrical engineering expertise, a strong background in mission-critical infrastructure, and the ability to translate complex technical requirements into scalable, commercially sound solutions. The ideal candidate will demonstrate: - A degree in Electrical Engineering, Building Services Engineering, or a related discipline. Chartered or professional engineer status, such as CEng or PE, is preferred. - Significant experience in data centre or mission-critical electrical engineering, including senior technical leadership of electrical design for large-scale programmes. - Deep technical expertise in data centre power distribution, including medium- and low-voltage systems, UPS, standby generation, redundancy topologies, and electrical protection. - A proven track record of developing and implementing electrical design standards, reference designs, or basis-of-design documentation for hyperscale, colocation, or large-scale data centre developments. - Hands-on experience designing and delivering high-density power infrastructure for AI and high-performance computing workloads, including rack-level power distribution. - A strong understanding of how GPU cluster power requirements and dynamic load behaviour influence facility electrical design and power architecture. - Familiarity with electrical codes and standards governing data centre design in Europe and North America, including relevant IEC standards and the National Electrical Code (NEC). - Strong commercial judgement, with the ability to balance capital expenditure, project schedules, reliability, maintainability, and operational performance when making engineering decisions. - Excellent communication skills and the ability to explain complex technical concepts and trade-offs clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders, including executive leadership. - A collaborative leadership style that builds trust across multidisciplinary teams while maintaining accountability and upholding engineering standards. - The ability to move confidently between strategic planning and detailed technical problem-solving, providing direction while remaining engaged in engineering decisions. **Benefits:** - **Competitive UK salary:** Annual base salary of £175,000–£225,000, based on qualifications, experience, location, and the value you bring. - **Discretionary bonus:** Additional performance-related compensation through a discretionary bonus programme. - **Equity awards:** The opportunity to share in the organisation's long-term success through equity. - **Pension contributions:** Retirement benefits to support long-term financial wellbeing. - **Comprehensive health and wellbeing benefits:** Access to health, wellbeing, and insurance coverage, subject to local regulations. - **Generous annual leave:** A generous allocation of vacation days each year. - **Remote working:** A remote position based in Europe, subject to applicable employment and location requirements. - **International collaboration:** The opportunity to work with a globally distributed team across multiple regions. - **Technical leadership and growth:** The opportunity to establish electrical engineering standards, shape critical AI infrastructure projects, and build a growing engineering function.